The Blazers: One more buzzer-beater

Brandon Roy has done a lot for the Trail Blazers. He's served as the team's ambassador during its trying times. He's been their All-Star on the court. The captain in the locker room. The face of the franchise to the rest of the country.

On Sunday, the man they call B-Roy also served as a metaphoric trainer for the Blazers, applying a Band-Aid over what figured to be a deep and ugly wound for this team.

Roy knifed through three defenders and made a scooping layup at the buzzer to give the Blazers an exhausting 109-108 victory over the New York Knicks in front of a sellout crowd of 20,609 at the Rose Garden.

It was the 24th time in his two-plus seasons Roy has made a play in the final 35 seconds that has won or sent a game into overtime, and none have covered up seeds of concern more than this one. The Blazers blew a 17-point, third-quarter lead by letting yet another opponent shoot lights out from the field, then fell behind by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter before some big shots from Travis Outlaw and some important defensive stands by Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge set up Roy's heroics.

AP Photo/Rick BowmerPortland Trail Blazers' Brandon Roy jumps into the arms of Travis Outlaw (25) after scoring the winning shot to defeat the New York Knicks 109-108 during an NBA Basketball game Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in Portland, Ore.

"We needed this game," said Roy, who finished with 19points, eight assists and four rebounds. "We have been struggling."

The Blazers (31-19) ended a two-game losing streak and don't play until Wednesday, giving them two days to peek under the Band-Aid and examine the damage of yet another game gone awry.

Immediately after the game, however, everybody wanted a chance to exhale and soak in a victory that very easily could have been a stinging defeat.

"It's great. We will take it," said coach Nate McMillan, who before the game looked weary and tense. "It's great. Absolutely great. We had to come back ... We didn't panic."

Aldridge, who provided a huge defensive stand against Al Harrington to set up Roy's final play, might as well have covered his ears when the precarious nature of the win was broached.

"We can't be like 'What if?'" Aldridge said. "We won."

And it took every fraction of a second for them to do it.

Trailing 108-107 with 4.3seconds left, the Blazers inbounded to Roy, who was immediately matched up with 6-foot-11 Jared Jeffries. Already with a mindset to penetrate, Roy hastened his move against the bigger defender, then spotted that guard Chris Duhon was settling himself in an attempt to draw a charge. So Roy hop-stepped to his right to avoid Duhon, scooped the ball from his hip and tossed it toward the rim.

It was the type of shot that has tortured Roy of late, and for a moment it appeared bad luck would resurface. It bounced once on the back rim, caromed to the left side of the rim, then trickled in.

"I got a little nervous as it started rolling to the left, because I've missed a lot of those this season," Roy said. "We were fortunate enough to get a roll in. It was just a blessing. We needed it."

Midway through the third quarter, nobody would have thought Roy would be talking about the fortunes of a bounce on a last second shot. The Blazers led 77-60 as Oden was having his way inside (17 points, 12 rebounds, career-high six blocks) and Sergio Rodriguez (16 points, six assists) was on his way to a career-high four three-pointers.

But in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Knicks (21-29) went on a 20-1 run, which included six three-pointers -- four on successive possessions. The Blazers came into the game with a game plan of protecting the basket against penetration, which essentially dared the Knicks to shoot.

The Knicks happily obliged, hitting 14 of 29 from beyond the arc, including five from Tim Thomas and three from Nate Robinson. All told, the Knicks shot 50.6 percent from the field, becoming the fourth opponent in the last five games to shoot 50percent or better against the Blazers.

"We know we lost two tough ones because of no defense, so tonight our scheme was to make them make tough jump shots, and they did," Aldridge said. "We said we would rather make them make threes than going to the basket."

That plan nearly backfired, as the Knicks were raining shots from all over the place -- some guarded, some wide open. It helped them build a 97-84 lead with just more than eight minutes left.

That's when Outlaw reassumed his "Mr. Fourth Quarter" role, hitting a series of pressure-packed jumpers to get the Blazers back in the game. Outlaw scored 13 of his team-high 23points in the final 7:30 of the game, including the two baskets leading up to Roy's game-winner.

"We've been in a little slump," Outlaw said. "But this is a good start for a turnaround."
Notes:Point guard Steve Blake (separated shoulder) missed his 11th game and will probably miss Wednesday's game against Oklahoma City, McMillan said. He will be re-examined by team doctors on Wednesday, and McMillan usually insists a player goes through a practice before playing. Blake did practice shooting before the game. ... The Blazers have played in the most one-point games in the NBA, during which they are 5-1. ... Portland is 19-5 at the Rose Garden, the second-best home record in the Western Conference. ... Rudy Fernandez has made a three-pointer in 28 consecutive games, one shy of the all-time rookie record set by Chicago's Kirk Hinrich.